York County filled with superstitions and the surreal

A look inside Nelson Rehmeyer's farmhouse, the scene of the 1928 hex murder, during a visit June 2007.
Paul Kuehnel

Ghosts, spirits, witches.

Such fascination with the surreal goes well beyond Halloween, which is enormous around here.

This preoccupation is embedded in York County culture. These superstitions are affixed to seemingly unrelated things like our ghost towns and ghost signs.

Maybe it's because superstitions are so prevalent in the Pennsylvania Dutch culture that is so strong in York County.

For example, powwow practitioners, who performed a type of faith healing, were common around York County a century ago. Some people say these primitive healing arts are practiced today.

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This place sparks more curiosity than any other York County house - the southern York County site where farmer Nelson Rehmeyer was killed in 1928. A trio of assailants assaulted this powwow practitioner in an attempt to locate several items which supposedly would break the spell he cast on one of them.(Photo: York Daily Record file)

"Whoever carries this book with him, is safe from all his enemies, visible or indivisible; and whoever has this book with him cannot die without the Holy Corpse of Jesus Christ, nor drowned in any water, nor burn up in any fire, nor can any unjust sentence be passed upon him. So help me."

That book was in many houses of York County after its publication in 1820s. That's the stuff of superstition around here.

In his book, Ross McGinnis wrote that York County is no longer mired in hex and superstition, as claimed by the press at the time of the Hex Murder in late 1928 and early 1929. In those cases, three assailants were brought to justice after they killed a powwow practitioner to break a spell cast on one or two of them. McGinnis said York County's court system helped run order through the chaos of superstition at that time.

"Superstition can be found in numerous localities and through the land in all forms, shapes and sizes," McGinnis wrote. "We cannot help but believe that as long as there are forces abroad that people don't fully understand or comprehend, the influence and power of 'hex' will persist as a part of the enchantment, wonder and variety of life."

That said, we'll show seven cases of the surreal that have saturated York County over time, some extremely serious, others far less so and some just meant to be fun.

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Mike Spyker sent this photo of York's old Pensupreme stack -- and another one showing what's left of it --
with the notation: "Another York county ghost sign disappears ..." He meant the white brick spelling of the stack's former owner. Ghost signs - old advertising signs left to neglect after outliving their owner - are everywhere around York County. So we will show a big handful of them in this gallery - Jim McClure Mike Spyker, submitted

Blogger Stephen H. Smith of describes this old sign: "Above the rear entrance to Feller's Clothing store in the York County Shopping Center from mid-1950s until 1977; it can still be seen on the back wall of the current York Marketplace in Springettsbury Township." Stephen H. Smith

Todd Bush, a York County resident, wrote that this image shows: "Two ghost signs in one." It displays "York's classic merchant, Reinebergs on 51 South George Street. The second sign is a vertical Florsheim shoe sign. Today it is home of The New Hub." Todd Bush, submitted

You could view other types of signs than painted advertisements as ghost signs. Some old signs remain long after the businesses closed. This business, at 275 Jefferson Avenue near Farquhar Park, has been rehabbed into residential units. It points back to the day before effective home refrigerators in which residents could keep meat and other perishables cold. Greg Halpin, submitted

The Pensupreme smokestack, just north of the North George Street Bridge in York, is coming down to make way for parking for the York County Academy Regional Charter School going up on the old nearby former dairy site. The white bricks creating the ghost sign are gone. We'll get back to the stacks around the county in the end. Mike Spyker

This is one of the most interesting ghost signs around the county. The "Pointing Hand," as some call it, appears on the south side of the former Keystone Color Works building. One wonders about the delicate hand chosen for a heavy manufacturing plant - a factory that made dyes for the wallpaper making businesses in York. Stephen H. Smith, submitted

This is one of York's best-know ghost signs. In the late 1950s, Eugene Wise bought the building next to him to expand, according to a YDR story. The first floor was a pharmacy and had a soda fountain. The painted sign remains on the side of the building from that time. York Daily Record file

Advertisers have long done whatever it takes to reach prospective buyers, with messages both small and large. When trains stopped or passed through Glen Rock in the late 1930s, they received the message from these two advertisers – Seigman’s & Wherleys and Wrigley gum. Glen Rock Historic Preservation Society

Time and weather caused the signs to fade. This is what passersby saw in 2012. "Note the Wrigley (bottom) ad has long been painted over, but the Seigman & Wherley ad at the top still is very readable even after about 80 years on the building," then-Glen Rock Historic Preservation Society President John ‘Otts' Hufnagel wrote several years ago. "Says a lot for lead paint." James McClure

Here is how ghost sign rehabilitation gets done. "We are very thankful to Terry and Cindy, owners of the Glen Rock Mill Inn, for donating the paint, to Rod Krebs for donating the lift for Steve (Myers) to use to reach the upper ad, and to Glen Rock Historic Preservation Society member Steve Myers for donating his time and talent to do the painting," Otts Hufnagel wrote. Glen Rock Historic Preservation Society

Here's another ghost sign success story. Several years ago, the sign on the east side of the former Schmidt & Ault paper plant looked like this. A call went out for a photo of how the sign originally looked. York Daily Record file

Here's the sign after rehab. A couple of points here: The restoration project means the owner York College has plans for the old paper mill. And the sign also points to the high water mark for the 20th-century's two largest floods. York Daily Record file

Here's another prominent ghost sign - the art deco facade of the AAA building on East Market Street, scene of a fire more than a decade ago. It's a case where the structure's facade - with its bright neon facade and rotating sign - was built to reflect the front of an automobile. When the automobile club moved out to Springettsbury Township, the sign remained behind. Paul Kuehnel

This ghost sign - one of several marking former fallout shelters around York County, is not painted or constructed as part of a building. This one on the square in Red Lion, like the others, is affixed to the buildings and could be easily removed. But no one has ever bothered to do so. York Daily Record file

It's amazing some signs persist, a century after they were painted. The Pullman sign on the old North George Street automaker is obscured by the sun, top, which has taken a toll on the artwork over the years. York Daily Record file

The Murals of York could become ghost signs of a kind. The 18 panels were not designed or prepared to last forever, and many are showing wear and tear at the 20 year mark. This mural, celebrating the making of Pullman vehicles in York, is among those showing the most deterioration. And this one was vandalized (since repaired), to boot. The York County History Center is looking for groups or individuals who will adopt a mural and underwrite its restoration. York Daily Record file

Here's the toppling of a York County ghost sign: The demolition of the stack with the name "Foust" in white brick on it. It stood in Foustown, a distillery town outside of Glen Rock. York Daily Record file

The stack with its very visible Yorktowne Paper in white brick remains standing. It points back to the day when factories staked out their turf by erecting tall, cylindrical signs. Do you have photos of other ghost signs around York County? Please send them to jem@ydr.com. - Jim McClure York Daily Record file

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Billy Foust's smokestack is brought most of the way down after Mother Nature damaged its top with a 2012 lightning strike. Actually, this smokestack went up long after distiller William Foust's heyday as chief of whiskey making in the company town of Foustown, near Glen Rock. Foustown was a bustling hamlet in its day. Today, it's a ghost town and only a stub of the stack stands. Those are the bricks that spelled out "Foust" coming down in this photo. - Jim McClure York Daily Record file

With its tall smokestack marking its spot, this is how people today remember Foustown, in Shrewsbury Township outside of Glen Rock, if they remember it at all. These photos with much of the caption information come from the Glen Rock Historic Preservation Society. So come with us on this photo tour of York County's best example of a ghost town, although little known to many. Glen Rock Historic Preservation Society

This is William "Billy" Foust, who learned distilling from his father, John. Foust whiskey was produced in its "spring fed hollow" starting in 1840. Billy Foust, 1838-1920, built the business into a thriving enterprise, starting out on his own at the age of 22. Glen Rock Historic Preservation Society

The Foust brand went by many names. One of its early specialties: "Foust Rye Whiskey." Fred Foust, one of Billy's four sons, later helped run the business. Each son had different responsibilities. Fred was in charge of the warehouse. Glen Rock Historic Preservation Society

William Foust Distillery made its rye whiskey with a very fine, secret recipe. In its early years, the Foust still produced two barrels a day, causing one historian to say: "(W)e can safely assume this exceeded the demands for personal use." Glen Rock Historic Preservation Society

Advertisements in various publications gives an idea of the size of Foustown. The short description is "considerable." This Foustown shouldn't be confused with another village by the same name in Manchester Township, north of York. By the way, that village, in the mid-1800s, was home to its own manufacturing establishment - Pfaltzgraff pottery. Glen Rock Historic Preservation Society

The future Route 216 right-of-way from a different angle. The village also housed a Foust-owned general store, which attracted people from surrounding areas to come into town. Glen Rock Historic Preservation Society

You get the feeling that you're in the city here in downtown Foustown, even though you're in the country. Was there an accident here? A historian concluded after studying this scene that it has tension all over it. Glen Rock Historic Preservation Society

A rebuilt distillery after the fire. But it's a quiet place. Prohibition had seen to that. But the town wasn't quiet in 1921, when some bad guys from Baltimore broke into a Foust warehouse and secured 300 barrels of whiskey. Glen Rock Historic Preservation Society

The lettering on the water tower gives the date of the distillery's founding: 1840. The combination of William Foust's death in 1920 and the passing of the Volstead Act bringing in Prohibition weakened the distillery. It never regained its whiskey-making might after the repeal of Prohibition in 1933. Glen Rock Historic Preservation Society

In World War II, the familiar stack went up and the distillery was re-fitted to making industrial alcohol for war use. Some accounts says that the plan was never executed. Glen Rock Historic Preservation Society

Some people saved white bricks that spelled out "Foust" when the smokestack came down in 2012. The Foust sign was preserved and in the wall of a barn about a mile from its original location. Glen Rock Historic Preservation Society

Today, motorists can survey this scene by taking Foustown's former main street off Route 216. An estimated 30-40 feet of the old stack remain, the demolition equipment malfunctioned, and the property owner declared the work was finished. There's an apocryphal story that as William Foust was dying in 1920, he was having a drink and someone pointed out that his imbibing was against Prohibition. He replied "And so am I." But, if anyone doubts that this large manufacturer operated in this spring-fed hollow of Shrewsbury Townsip for more than a century, these photos attest to the accuracy of that statement. And John Hufnagel and Jerry Blevins will, too. The give presentations on Foustown. Contact them: glenrockotts@comcast.net. Don McClure, submitted photo

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The Hex Murder of 1928 has rightfully scored the label of York County's crime of the century. You have three guys, including two teens, kill a farmer in a remote part of the county as part of a spell to break a spell that the victim, a suspected witch, placed on one or two of them. Or should we say as part of a suspected hex that went awry. These photos are arranged to tell this captivating, but terrible story, along with the carefully written captions. (Tap on some devices to see the captions). - Jim McClure York Daily Record file

Here is the murder house, Rehmeyer's Hollow, Pa. This location is so remote that's it's hard to explain how to get there, and it's difficult to attach a nearby town to this locale. Is it Shrewsbury, Stewartstown, Winterstown? Or somewhere else? For whatever it's worth, it stands in North Hopewell Township in southern York County. York Daily Record file

This is Nelson Rehmeyer's farmhouse, scene of the Hex Murder, when investigators are still on site. The murder took place at Thanksgiving time - Rehmeyer's body was found on Thanksgiving Day - not in October. But interest in this case peaks around Halloween. York Daily Record file

The story of Rehmeyer's death has always been popular in York County, even when his house fell into disrepair. But it has found new audiences with the release of the documentary 'Hex Hollow' in late 2015. Other photos with top blog posts follow in this slide show. File - York Daily Record

To continue the story: The encounter with Rehmeyer went awry - and then violent. The trio strangled Rehmeyer and then beat him with a log and finally set his body on fire. This is Rehmeyer as a young man. Paul Kuehnel

The Hex Murder has sometimes been trivialized with haunted hay rides and the like. Sometimes, it's forgotten that an innocent man died in a brutal, late-night home invasion. The charred floor work is evidence of the attempted burning of Rehmeyer's body by his assailants. York Daily Record file

We'll take a quick detour to give context about this murder's place in York County history. The international coverage accorded to the trial embarrassed county residents. It's one of the county's bad moments on the national stage, akin to the surrender about 70 years before of York to the invading Confederate Army in the Civil War. Gen. Jubal A. Early, pictured, headed the invading Rebels. National Park Service

And then there was this moment, the riots of 1969 - another deadly event. A white police officer and a black woman, a visitor to town, died in the rioting. That event brought national headlines, as did the trials of the assailants of the two victims more than 30 years later. York Daily Record file

These bad events - the surrender to the Confederates, the riots of 1969 and the Hex Murder - compete against achievements in York's past. Such as the nine months that Continental Congress met here and adopted the Articles of Confederate, among other good things that aided America in the American Revolution. York County History Center

Another positive moment in history spotlight: The York Plan in World War II, when the community came together to share manpower and machinery to land big defense contracts that greatly aided the Allied war effort. York County History Center

Alice Rehmeyer and her daughters, Beatrice and Florence. Farmer Nelson Rehmeyer was known to be reclusive, odd, maybe socialistic in politics, reportedly a white magic practitioner. He owned a copy of "Long Lost Friend," a book widely circulated among the Pennsylvania Dutch. It was a collection of home remedies and folk cures. It contained spells, sometimes called hexes, as well. Mcclure, James

The question regularly comes up: Did the the type of home remedies and spells that Rehmeyer practiced make him a witch? An interesting fact that could lead to the answer "no": Rehmeyer was given a Christian burial at Sadler's Church in southern York County. Here is Ross McGinnis' response to that question: " There is no doubt that in Blymyer’s mind, Rehmeyer was a witch. In the eyes of his wife, Alice, and his two daughters, he was a witch. At one point, his wife Alice referred to him as that Blymyer "devilish old witch.” In the eyes of the community he was simply a misfit. His neighbor, Charles Miller, told me that he thought he was peculiar, something of an “odd duck.” I don’t think Rehmeyer would have intended to harm anyone." York Daily Record file

John George Hohman's 'Long Lost Friend' is a collection of home cures and spells. This is Rehmeyer's copy - the object of his assailants home invasion. It is owned by J. Ross McGinnis. author of "Trials of Hex." Submitted, J. Ross McGinnis

The big type cites a case of white magic, sometimes called pow-wowing, that ran amuck. York County's Jacob Zellers, practitioner of the type of healing ideas found in "Long Lost Friend," claims to have deployed malpractice with several people. Sean Coxen has deeply studied the Hex Murder case. He writes: "Nelson Rehmeyer's direct descendants ... make no bones that old man indeed practiced pow-wow (or Braucherei, Brauche), a supposedly magical art allowing practitioners to heal illnesses and protect the vulnerable by casting charms and performing rituals and prescribing herbs. In short, Rehmeyer was a "white witch." There is no evidence that Rehmeyer was a Hexenmeister or Hexer, a black witch who cast spells with malicious intent." Submitted, Terry Zellers

Ross McGinnis, seen here giving a tour of the Hex House, makes a strong point that the legal system worked well in York County. McGinnis writes that the proceedings for the Rehmeyer assailants were a "triumph for justice." Indeed, he points out that some of the lawyering, particularly that of defense counsel Harvey Gross, was brilliant. Gross' effectiveness helped lead to a lesser conviction for Hess - second degree murder. That compares to the first degree judgments against Blymyer and Curry. McGinnis believes the jury understood Gross' argument that Hess was making a sacrifice by accompanying the other two to Rehmeyer's Hollow – he was trying to break a curse on his family. The jury rendered due justice with the lesser verdict, Gross told a reporter at that time. “Somehow or another, mankind reached its full stature tonight,” he said. In short, York County's legal system performed well under international scrutiny and helped run order through the high-tension chaos then in the county. York Daily Record file

All three assailants served time for their crime and went back into society. John Blymyre worked as a janitor in Philadelphia.McGinnis wrote about the oldest assailant: ‘Blymyer died as he had lived, friendless and alone.’ John Curry became a painter and cartographer on Dwight D. Eisenhower's staff in World War II. Here in Rehmeyer's Hollow, Norma Grace Strawbridge displays two portraits of herself (at bottom) and her sister Lois that Curry painted around 1946.
Norma Grace Strawbridge brought two portraits of herself, bottom, and her sister Lois that were painted by John Curry about 1946. Curry was one of the defendants in the murder trial. YORK DAILY RECORD/SUNDAY NEWS- PAUL KUEHNEL York Daily Record file

Wilbert Hess worked around York, known to many people alive today. York countian Gary E. Heiland wrote: ‘In the 1970s I worked with Wilbert G. Hess at McKay Company in York. Wilbert was a genuinely nice guy and was a good employee. I didn’t know of his connection to the Hex murders until after the time when I worked with him. I believe they had a son, Donald. I think Wilbert was also a caretaker for a church in the area of dead man’s curve near the Pine Grove.’ Mcclure, James

This murder over superstitions provides a contrast with a moment in which York County's technological and scientific knowhow made national news. Here, practitioners of the York Plan pore over blueprints and specifications for the next defense project to aid the Allied cause in World War II. York Daily Record file

Several years ago, Nelson Rehmeyer's descendants sought to turn the Hex House into a museum. The effort was thwarted by North Hopewell Township because of parking and other concerns. York Daily Record file

This is another popular book on the murder, Arthur Lewis' "Hex." It lacks the precision and context of Ross McGinnis' "Trials of Hex." The same reportedly is true of the Hollywood version of this event, the 1980s "Apprentice to Kill." Amazon.com

This gallery is based on a Powerpoint presentation I use in giving talks about the Hex Murder around the region.The best places to go for information about the murder and the trials are Ross McGinnis' "Trials of Hex," and Shane Free's "Hex Hollow" documentary. Ross McGinnis' work is a key source for information in this gallery. I also have written extensively on the topic. For many stories and photos: http://bit.ly/2dJryro. We'll close with this insightful comment from the Rev. Bowersox, presiding at Rehmeyer’s funeral: ‘I am sure that the general light of this community is far above anything so dreadful.’
- Jim McClure York Daily Record file

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York County has been around 'a while ' - officially since 1749 - so you're going to collect plenty of curious, strange and weird people, places and things. These photos would fall into one, two or all of these areas. And I'll keep adding them as I come across them, so check back. We'll start with the list topper, the Hex Murder House, where three young assailants attacked a suspected witch to break a spell he had allegedly place on one or two of them. More about this at the end. - Jim McClure York Daily Record file

OK, this is one of York County's weirdest scenes. The ford of Tyler Run on York College's campus. A small survey of YCP lovers did not reveal why no bridge was built. It's a mystery, but one could speculate that good old-fashioned York County thriftiness was a contributor! Uh, the stream level dictates whether you can make the ford. Jim McClure, York Daily Record

Visit Wildcat Falls today along the river road north of Wrightsville, and you'd never know that it was a destination for thousands each year. People would go there to picnic and have fun, some from across the Susquehanna in Marietta. York Daily Record file

Is it Pigeon Hills or Pidgeon Hills? The passenger pigeon monument at Codorus State Park, standing on a hill off Marina Road, was rededicated 25 years ago after the move from its original site in the hills north of Hanover. Some sources say those hills north of Hanover are the Pidgeon Hills. Others say they're the Pigeon Hills. It's a difficult controversy to resolve. Some believe those hills are named after the Pigeon family. Others back the Penn's surveyor of Paradise Township, Joseph Pidgeon. The controversy is stoked by the fact that passenger pigeons populated the area in the late 1880s. The monument celebrates the extinct birds. x

This is just fun: Why do people continue the custom or loading up on water from this southern York County springs? The lonely pipe pokes out along Seven Valleys Road. A pipe installed along the side of Seven Valleys Road between York New Salem and Seven Valleys. Water is plentiful so why do people do this? Take your pick: It's free. They've been doing this for years. It's just fun. Or you simply like the water. York Daily Record file

This is surely one of York County's most unusual tombstones. This granite bear stands in Mount Zion Cemetery on Mount Zion Road, north the York Galleria. The inscription: "Gone to Happy Hunting Ground." York Daily Record file

This is one of those places where your car seems to roll up hill. It's where Pleasant View Road intersects with Wyndamere Road in Fairview Township, the terrain helps produce the illusion that your car is rolling uphill. There's an urban legend that there was a deadly bus crash here years ago and the deceased hang around to give you a push. Google Maps

Ruins Hall is a new event venue in Glen Rock, Pa. 'The concrete structure (of Ruins Hall) lends itself to being a good event space for block parties and live music festivals,' an event organizer told FlipSidePa. So a question that emerges: What was on this site that became ruins? The short answer: It was part of a factory complex that was used to make a number of things in this industrial town over the years. York Daily Record file

A drought in the mid-1960s brought a rainmaker to York, complete with magic box. (More about this strange story:http://bit.ly/2dg0BMj). That same drought brought Lake Redman, too. This is how Lake Redman looked before it was Lake Redman. Lureen Brown provided these photos of that snowy York Township countryside as it looked in 1961. This photo looks across the hill as it comes down from Jacobus. Five years later, lake waters flooded this land. The boat landing at Lake Redman is roughly where the big hill meets the ridge, left center. Lureen Brown said if you'd stand in that field today: 'You'd be under water." Submitted

This is a drawbridge of sorts on North Penn Street, only it was drawn by muscle power. The bridge was raised to let rail shipments of large equipment to pass underneath. The bridge is gone, replaced by a footbridge about 20 years ago. Stephen H. Smith

The Shoe House was constructed after World War II as a promotion by "Shoe Wizard" Mahlon Haines. Today, it serves ice cream lovers and those who just want to check out this prime example of oversized roadside architecture in Springettsbury Township. York Daily Record file

Strange and curious does not mean bad. Here's a strange and curious that helps define Christmas in York County. The Glen Rock Carol Singers don their top hats and stroll the streets of Glen Rock singing time-honored Christmas carols. This photo brings an interesting perspective: Steam into History's locomotive sits in the background, an 1865 replica representing a time not long after the carolers first sang carols along the streets of Glen Rock. York Daily Record file

Another curious rite of Christmas, Christmas magic. It started in the energy crisis of the 1970s when residents saved electricity by going without decorations. York County Parks' filled the void with this enormous light show at Rock Ridge Park in Springettsbury Township. York Daily Record file

You can't make this up. For decades, York has been blessed with a Christmas concert in which an old factory whistle served as the instrument. This whistle, from the New York Wire Cloth company, has an adjustable valve that whistlemaster Don Ryan - yes, there is such a position - can move to perform Christmas carols. It's a musical display of the old World War II York Plan saying: "Do what you can with what you have." York Daily Record file

This was a Christmas custom that is no more. In the post-World War II era, Santa would fly into York Airport, travel to the Bon-Ton Department store on a fire truck and climb through an upper-level window. This marked the beginning of the holiday shopping season. Perhaps the annual city tree lighting ceremony, which drew a massive crowd in 2016, has in some way replaced this memorable moment. York Daily Record file

Belsnickel, being reenacted here in a York County Pennsylvania Dutch group, is sometimes viewed as a type of early Santa Claus. There are still Pennsylvania Dutch - a German dialect - speakers in York County, Pa. But there are no known Belsnickles around today! York Daily Record file

There are all kinds of myths concerning the origin and meaning of the pickle in a Christmas tree. Here a 3 o'clock, a pickle ornament is hidden in a Christmas tree that is part of an exhibit at the Goodridge Freedom House in York. Why would the house of a former slave-turned-businessman have a Christmas tree exhibit? William C. Goodridge, that business and Underground Railroad operative, hosted such an exhibit in 1840. York Daily Record

You'd never know these buildings were the place where York Peppermint Patties were made for decades. Production moved from these North Pine Street buildings several years ago, and the "cool-breeze" candy, still going by the York name, is made in Mexico today. York Daily Record file

Now get to get to come curious York County dishes and culinary customs. We'll start with hog maw, sausage and other goodies cased in pig's stomach. With its cousin - pork & sauerkraut - hog maw, popular around New Year's Day, is reported to give good luck in the new year. York Daily Record file

This York County delicacy, also a New Year's good luck dish, is commonly called pork and sauerkraut. It comes in that order even though the fermenting cabbage, the sour in kraut, outnumbers the pork as a percentage of a helping and also in the smell department. York Daily Record file

Not only is the Pennsylvania Dutch fastnacht spelled in different ways, it is made in various ways. How do fasnachts differ from donuts - or is it doughnuts? Some contend real fastnachts have to be made with potatoes. York Daily Record

This might be the most popular recipe created in York County. (But it's a secret.) This is a Bury's Burger, characterized by its red sauce (that's the secret) and topped with an onion slice. York Daily Record file

Where else but York County do you have York Mayor Kim Bracey and other dignitaries participate in a fundraiser in which these delicacies are served: pickled cow tongue, fried chicken liver and pig foot souse. York Daily Record file

All kinds of things are dropped around York County on New Year's Eve: White Rose (York), pickle (Dillsburg); shoe (Hallam). And here we have a cigar - in Red Lion, of course. Red Lion was known to be the capital of cigar making in York County a century ago. York Daily Record file

This is the artwork associated with the film "Toad Road," a 2012 American independent horror thriller film. It was directed by Jason Banker, who has York County ties, and plays on Hellam Township's Seven Gates of Hell urban legend. For more about this myth that has captivated folks for years, cut/paste this link into your browser: http://bit.ly/2e4197E. YDR file

This tall stack towered over Foustown for years, but was demolished after a lightning strike a few years ago. Today this stub is all that remains - the most prominent structure left in Foustown. Submitted, Donald McClure

The Golden Plough Tavern in York is a rare example of German half-timber construction in America. So, what does it look like under the hood? Artist Cliff Satterthwaite gives a view. Cliff Satterthwaite

The Second Street, York, house today has a facade of tall timber. Irvin Baughman tells a story about that wood. Those are chestnut posts salvaged from the York City Market demolished in the 1950s to 1970s period when preservation was not high on the city's list. Irvin Baughman, submitted

The Dempwolf, the famed Victorian-era York-based architectural firm designed homes seemingly everywhere. The Wilson house in York County, Pa.'s, Gatchelville is an example of a big Dempwolf-designed house built in a small town. This sits in southeastern York County. Stewartstown Historical Society

Pennsylvania Dutch York County had a Holland-style windmill in the 1870s. It was constructed by the father of the Dempwolfs, noted architects, on the north bank of the Codorus Creek. York County History Center

Windmills operate around York County today. Here's one of the largest. This is a 16-foot mill in the vicinity of southeastern York County's New Park. It's of a design from 1888, and operates above a three-story mill house. A big mill installation in a tiny York County village. York Daily Record

This swinging bridge, on the north end of Small field, is believed to have been built by York Safe and Lock to allow workers a shortcut across the creek. It's long gone, but stories remain about boys making it swing or harassing others trying to cross the span, wide enough for only one. York County History Center

Under York's Continental Square rests two restrooms or comfort stations. They were opened in 1929 as an answer for when nature called after bars and hotels shut down in the Prohibition era. They finally closed about a decade ago, but they're still down there, possibly the last such intact structure in Pennsylvania. York Daily Record file

This was the original facade of the old York County Prison on Chestnut Street. The familiar red-brick prison replaced it and stands today. But the old cell block at its rear, left, came down in the past 20 years. York Daily Record file

The future of the old Chestnut Street became bright in 2018 when UFD acquired it for use as a datacenter. The prison closed in 1979 when the new jail was opened in Pleasant Acres, Springettsbury Township. It has sat unoccupied since. York Daily Record file

The rivalry - sometimes friendly, sometimes serious - between York and Lancaster counties goes back centuries. York was birthed from Lancaster in 1749, so you could say that some of it comes from the rebellion a son or daughter can show toward parents. Recently, the York Daily Record suggested a tug of war between Lancaster and York on the Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge. Each county could choose its 100 strongest people and go at it. That's the type of rivalry that's there. York Daily Record

What the heck? How can the smoke billow forward? Well it can when the locomotive powering New Freedom's Steam into History is traveling backwards, as it does on all trips between its home base and Hanover Junction. There's no turntable at the Junction. Rick Ramage, submitted

Yup. When the Street Rods come to town in early June, this is what York County people do. They break out their lawn chairs, sit along Route 30 and enjoy the rolling museum pieces. This image comes from a YDR promotion video of this rite of late spring in York County, Pa. York Daily Record file

Back to the Hex Murder of 1928. Nelson Rehmeyer met his death in the lonely hollow bearing his family's name in southern York County. This was the scene after his body was discovered two days later, Thanksgiving Day. York Daily Record file

Rehmeyer resisted his assailants, who were seeking a lock of his hair to break the spell he had allegedly cast. And they killed him. That broke the alleged spell. They set his body on fire to cover their tracks, but neither it or the house completedly burned. This shows where his body was found in the house in Rehmeyer Hollow. x

The Rehmeyer murder house in Rehmeyer Hollow today. It's still an attraction to motorists who want to see the scene of the murder - an act some believe lead to the first witch trials since those in Salem, Mass. in the late 1600s. For stories about the topics in this gallery, go to YDR.com and search on the topic. York Daily Record file

For your calendar: Is York County weird? Well, we’ve had our oddities, curiosities and generally strange people, places and things. More than other counties? Possibly. Well, probably. Our quaint ways make York County, York County. In the 2017 edition of “An Evening to Unravel York County History," five local historians will explain and explore “Weird York County.” This evening again will feature the popular “Stump the Historian,” segment. So start arming yourself with your knottiest questions. It's scheduled for 7 p.m. Dec. 7 at DreamWrights theater, 100 Carlisle Ave., York.

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